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Dalia Rawcrag, Daughter of War
"I got this Dad, don't worry! You taught me yourself, remember?" ''-Dalia talking to Thundag about going exploring in the woods'' History Dalia Vinhelm was born on a small wheat farm to her elven father, Callon Vinhelm and her human mother, Sarah Vinhelm. Her birth was heralded by the horns of war trumpeting through the air as she came out of the womb swinging, nearly knocking her father off of his feet in the process as she slammed into him. Dalia matured fairly normally throughout her childhood, the extraordinary strength she exhibited at birth fading from her parents memory as quickly as it had come. Dalia quickly became accustomed to the farm life, growing fit for a child her age as it often took a small search party to find her as she explored the surrounding farmland to its fullest. However, her family was not without its own troubles. Callon had a history of facing issues when trying to find vendors to ply his wheat to the market. This quickly led to him taking out many a hefty loan to keep his farm and family financially afloat during those difficult times. One such loan agency named "The Law Offices of Nightman, Nightman, Nightman and Smith™" offered Callon a deal as winter was coming and food was becoming very scarce for his family, 5 thousand gold at a "reasonable" interest rate of 150% annually. At this point Callon had been turned away by several loan agencies by the fact that he had so much debt already built up from previous loans so he readily accepted the unreasonable deal. The money lasted just long enough to get the Vinhelm family through that winter as Callon turned to the drink to run from his disappointment and shame at not being able to provide for his family. This pent up anger at his failure was slowly taken out on his family as he began drinking more and more. By the time the winter had ended, Callon had begun beating Sarah on the regular when he wasn't satisfied. Dalia quickly became scared of her father and his violent drunken outbursts, at one point trying to turn to her mother for comfort after being threatened to be beaten before being screamed at violently that "IF WE DIDN"T HAVE AN EXTRA MOUTH TO FEED, WE WOULDN'T BE LIKE THIS!" after being thrown violently to the ground by her. Dalia quickly realized that neither of her parents would comfort her, drawing her to the silence and comfort of the night where she quickly became entranced by the beauty of the moon and the freedom of the outdoors. Throughout the summer, the wheat harvest was the worst it had been in years. The fields were almost entirely barren that summer. Callon became more and more nervous as the deadline for the loan payment came closer and the fields stayed barren, his drinking becoming more intense and the beatings worse and more frequent. Dalia found refuge from those beatings by running off into the forests nearby and taking refuge in a small clearing she was sure her father would never look for her. The end of Erastus arrived too soon for Callon as on the last day, he received a small note. "We will collect tomorrow." The next day Dalia was roughly dragged from her bed by her father, his eyes bloodshot and crazed and smelling profusely of alcohol. Dalia screamed and kicked at him in horror and fear as Callon dragged her from her bed and threw her into the root cellar saying only "Don't make a sound." She threw herself at the cellar door for a while before giving up and realizing the futility of her actions. As Dalia laid there in the darkness of the root cellar, she heard her father's voice begin to argue and then plead desperately with the emotionless response of "We are here to collect" before a meaty thud and a gurgling noise cut off any further noise from her father. All Dalia heard of her mother was an ear-piercing screech before the same meaty thud happened and she went silent. "Hmmmhmm, come out wherever you are little one, we won't hurt you." she heard creep around the floor above her in the slimiest and most ingenuous voice she had ever heard. "FINE. IF YOU WON"T COME OUT I GUESS WE'LL HAVE TO BURN YOU OUT!" The voice said after hearing nothing but silence for several minutes as he stalked around her home, attempting to sniff her out. After a few minutes Dalia felt the temperature begin to rise from outside the root cellar as the smoke and ash began to slip into the small cracks of the door. After several minutes of trying to breathe through the smoke and ash, she burst out of the door, her extraordinary strength coming to light for the first time since her birth as she ran from the flaming house in an effort to survive. As she ran out of the flaming doorway of her former home, massive unyielding hands clamped down around her arms as she was manacled by a large, boxish man. A small hunchbacked fellow grinned at her with a smile the color of beeswax as her parents both lid on the ground, stomach's caved in from a massive blunt impact with an expression of pain on their faces. "There you are little one." He looked her up and down "Just big enough for my tastes as well." He said before licking his lips as though he were a predator tasting the scent of prey in the air. Out of nowhere all three of them heard a bestial roar of fury as a behemoth of a half-orc charged and slammed into the large-boxish man, his head making a sickening crack against the ground. "Who are you, you, you, BRUTE!" The small man screamed indignantly "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!?!?!" before the half-orc picked him up and proceeded to tear the small man in half while screaming in incoherent fury. As the gore and viscera fell from the remains of the man, the half-orc looked at her and seemed to calm down after an expression of shock ran across his face. He grabbed her manacles and after straining for a bit shattered them. All Dalia could do was look at the behemoth who saved her in utter shock at the violence he displayed before he picked up and hugged the 4 year old girl. The behemoth simply whispered in her ear "You are Thundag's family now. You are safe". Dalia unleashed a stream of tears as her only response, the year of pent up anxiety and fear released at once. The shock of seeing her old life go up in flames leaving her an emotional wreck. Dalia quickly became close friends with the giant man she knew only as Thundag, although over time she began to regard him as a father figure, teaching her what it meant to survive in the wilderness surrounding her razed home and the few life lessons he had learned. Chief among those lessons was "Keep your family safe". He enforced this ideal in everything Thundag did, keeping her safe as they hunted as if a guardian angel of somekind. One day as they were travelling, Dalia became curious about her adoptive father's past. "Dad, what was your family like?" To which he brusquely said only one word in response "Bad". She never touched upon his family ever again after hearing the barely contained anger in his voice. After several months of travel, the strange pair encountered a small farmhouse as evening fell. Thundag walked up to the door and knocked before asking through the door. "Can we stay the night in your barn? Got a little 'un here and the night ain't good for 'er." An older man answer the door and stepped back in a look of shock and surprise at the savage looking half-orc before looking down and seeing Dalia, the expression of surprise transitioning into one of sympathy. "Of course you can, come on in you two, Gerda's making dinner." The old man replied Thundag looked down as Dalia clung to his leg, not trusting the older man, "It'll be fine, Thundag is here to keep you safe." He said picking her up and bringing her in. "The name's Thomas." The old man said "Might I ask you who are you and what're you doin' travellin' at this time o' night with a little girl?" Dalia sat silent in Thundag's lap as he recounted how they met and even went into his own past a little. During the explanation of who he was, it was revealed that these were Thundag's grandparents and by proxy Dalia's great-grandparents. Thomas and Gerda unflinchingly accepted Dalia as their great-granddaughter and insisted that they stay. Over the next several years, Thundag helped rebuild and renovate the farmhouse and barn as Dalia got experience a period full of happiness, peace and exploration. Her great-grandparents taught both her and Thundag about societal manners and customs while they stayed until one day a large group of bandits came, led by a large man with an earthbreaker. Thundag was forced to defend the farmhouse and after a long bloody fight, killed the leader, causing the rest of the bandits to disperse. After that fight, Dalia decided she wanted to be able to protect herself and not rely on her adoptive family for protection, demanding Thundag teach her how to fight. Over the next several years, Thundag taught her everything he knew, from being able to bring out her inner strength and how to wield a weapon. As her training was finished, Thundag declared that it was time for him to repay his grandparents, and so he set out to the nearby metropolis of Magnamar in an attempt to supplement the income of the family, promising to write back. Dalia never heard of her father again after that day, leaving her with just her great-grandparents who were ailing of old age and requiring care. Years passed and Dalia grew into a strong, fair half-elf woman, capable of running the farm by herself while taking care of her ailing grandparents. Gerda quickly died of old age and Thomas passed on soon after, leaving Dalia alone in the world. The day after Thomas died, as she was still grieving, Dalia heard a voice made of clashing blades and the screams of battle speak to her. "Find my champion daughter, and bring chaos to the Reach." The voice said as the hidden strength Dalia exhibited so long ago came to her fingertips readily and she burned with power. A magical greatsword, looking as if it was hewn from a large chunk of black iron and mithral, fell through the ceiling and impaled itself on the floor in front of her, the leather wrapped hilt and scabbard emblazoned with Gorum's holy symbol. "Now GO!" The voice yelled and all was silent. Dalia took this as a divine mission and she packed for her leave after finishing grieving for Thomas. She pulled the black iron greatsword from the floor and barred the door after slaughtering and preparing the remaining livestock as food for her journey ahead. Dalia looked at the farmhouse where she had so many memories of her newfound family, gave thanks to her great-grandparents as they lay in their graves and walked on. Drawn to the sea, she chartered a ship to the nearest city she could find to start her search for the "Champion". She eventually hired on as a mercenary aboard the "Starflower" and went off to sea. During her voyage, the ship was struck by something deep below the waves and a titanic whirlpool opened beneath it. It was all Dalia could do to hold on as the entirety of the ship was sucked beneath the waves. She awoke on a cluttered beach, with nothing to her name except for her life savings and the greatsword that had never left her grasp. She stood up soaking wet, and trudged off to find the nearest sign of civilization. In the distance she saw a dark brooding city with a small sign "Welcome to Fiend's Reach". Appearance Dalia is a fairly fit redheaded half-elf who zest for life shows in everything she does. Her body is not bulky with muscle as with her father, but has some muscular definition to it. Her scarlet locks descend slightly past her shoulders and are usually tied in a ponytail to keep them out of her face. Her face is home to a pair of emerald green eyes with slit pupils that always seem to be either looking for something or taking in the world around her. Her left ear is slightly pointed, reflecting the elvish heritage from her biological father. Recent events have changed her appearance slightly however, earning her a pair of cat-like ears on the side of her head instead of where her elven ears once resided. Down by her tail bone, a black and orange tail with red streaks running through it has grown out. She is usually found wearing practical, easy to move around in clothing, foregoing fashion for the sake of ease of movement. Her favorite attire being a deer leather jerkin and pants. When Dalia enters a rage, any semblance of kindness and wonder leave from her face and a look of bloodlust takes its place. Personality Dalia is almost kind to a fault, willing and wanting to help as many people as she can while keeping herself free to do as she wishes. Some may take her as naive and over trusting based on her friendly demeanor, but when push comes to shove, she stands her ground no matter who it may be. She loves to explore the wilderness and the farming lifestyle, often disappearing for days or weeks at a time to enjoy the freedom of the woods and will stop at nothing to protect the freedom of others to do the same. She hates charity for herself, viewing something not earned by her own hard work as something not truly hers. Relationships She has yet to truly interact with the Reach, making it difficult for her to have found anybody she can consider either a friend of enemy. Aspirations To find the "Champion" that Gorum spoke to her of, and to potentially reunite with her father.